Wates has appointed Lee Phillips to head up a new team for Wates, focusing on commercial fit-out in London.

The appointment expands Wates’ service offer in fit-out and refurbishment and positions the company for growth in this market.

Phillips joins as a managing director and is building a specialist team with the expertise to deliver high-quality Category A and B fit-outs.

He brings with him more than 30 years’ experience within the fit-out sector.

In his previous role as managing director for UK Fit Out at ISG, he led eight divisions delivering major commercial projects up to £250m in value, and focused on building long-term strategic partnerships with customers across all sectors.

Prior to joining ISG, he spent 16 years leading London-based projects at Overbury, as well as being part of its senior leadership team for the major projects division.

The new service line will sit within Wates’ Construction business, strengthening its offering in the fit-out and refurbishment market and will operate separately from its existing Smartspace business.

With Smartspace providing a nationwide service focused on frameworks in both private and public sectors, this new capability tailored to the London commercial market will help Wates offer a broader range of specialist refurbishment services to clients across all sectors.

Steffan Battle, executive managing director of Construction at Wates, said: “Fit-out and refurbishment is a growth driver for our business, especially as we look to expand our service offer to clients. Our focus on London’s commercial sector continues to increase and creating a dedicated fit out operation for this unique market complements our existing expertise, while offering a point of difference to customers.